This recipe is a treasure. Not just because it hits all the hot buttons of great home cooking: delicious, easy, and nourishing, but largely because of its source.
It’s from Cecil, a family friend of Mr. Mom’s Kitchen who was his father’s longtime BFF (can you refer to a man north of 70 as a BFF?). Ever since my father-in-law died 15 plus years ago, Cecil has treated Mr. Mom’s Kitchen, and the rest of us, with the kind of interest and tenderness usually reserved for immediate family.
Cecil tells a killer story, has more tricks up his sleeve for entertaining the kids than a magician, and the sort of twinkly blue eyes you might expect to see on Santa Claus. When we stayed with him and his lovely bride, Martha, a few summers ago in the Colorado mountain retreat they call home, he whipped up a batch of these puffy pancakes to rave reviews.
On that particular day, Cecil added sliced peaches, in season at the time, and cooked the pancakes in individual six-ounce ramekins. What resulted were tasty, tender puffy pancakes with a high dose of drama as they rose to impressive heights, defying the altitude of our locale.
I asked Cecil for the recipe and just recently made it for a weekend breakfast. I don’t have the proper ramekins, but found the wide-mouthed eight-ounce Mason jars I use for making jam work beautifully. They’re inexpensive, are available in supermarkets and hardware stores, and are handy for any number of cooking applications. Apparently they’re also quite trendy considering there’s a new and very charming cookbook devoted to making Desserts in Jars.
Who knew?
If you have neither ramekins nor jars, you likely do have a cake pan, which is all you need for one giant puffy pancake, just as tasty as the mini ones. I’ve done it this way a couple of times when I am a little short on time.
What I like about the recipe is it calls for four eggs and a full cup of milk, which adds a fair bit of protein relative to typical pancakes. The kids aren’t going to show up hungry 10 minutes after breakfast. I use whole wheat pastry flour in place of all-purpose, which adds nourishment as well.
Make this for your kids in a cake pan for a school day breakfast and they’ll think you’re supermom.
Make it for company in charming little jars and your friends may feel as well cared for by you as we did by Ceci
Puffy Apple Cinnamon Pancakes (Dutch Babies)
Ingredients
- Canola oil or non-stick cooking spray
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large crisp apple
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup low fat milk
- Special equipment: Five 8-ounce, wide-mouthed mason jars or five 6-ounce ramekins.
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
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Coat the sides of the jars with oil or cooking spray. Put a piece of butter in the bottom of each jar, dividing the 2 tablespoons evenly amongst the jars. Set jars in a baking pan and put in the oven to melt the butter. Once the butter is melted remove the baking pan with the jars.
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While the butter is melting, peel the apple, remove the core, and cut into a 1/3-inch dice. In a small bowl, mix the apple together with the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
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Crack the eggs into a medium bowl, ideally one with a lip for pouring. Whisk the eggs well until they are light yellow and a little foamy. Add the flour and milk and beat again until silky smooth with no visible lumps.
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Pour the batter into the jars. Spoon the diced apple on top of the batter, dividing evenly amongst the jars.
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Put the pan with the jars into the oven and bake until the pancakes puff up generously and are golden brown across the top, about 20 minutes.
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Remove from oven and serve, being cautious because the jars and pancakes will be hot. Delicious with maple syrup and your favorite jam on the side.
Comments
10.15.2012 at6:33 AM #
Paula @ Vintage Kitchen
Do you use regular jars, or are there special ones that go into the oven? This is an extraordinary recipe, kudos to Cecil!
10.15.2012 at6:33 AM #
Katie Morford
The recipe specifies 8-ounce wide-mouthed Mason jars. These are for canning so can withstand heat, plus, they are the right shape for a proper rise.
10.15.2012 at6:44 AM #
Anne Mullen
Sounds delicious! And perhaps easier than our family pancake recipe. I’ll give it a try to compare. Thanks, Katie.
10.15.2012 at6:44 AM #
Katie Morford
Definitely less time consuming than typical pancakes, especially when made in a cake pan. Report back!
10.15.2012 at11:20 AM #
Mary Ellen
Kate, The kids are off school today so you inspired me to make these immediately. Easy, pretty and delicious! My husband suggested this replace my Baked French Toast on Christmas morning. Thanks, Cecil!
10.15.2012 at11:20 AM #
Katie Morford
That was fast. Glad it went over so well, though sorry for your French toast. No hard feelings.
10.15.2012 at2:27 PM #
Jane
I feel privileged to have tasted the cake pan version of yours. Delicious. Thank you Cecil and Katie!
10.22.2012 at11:06 AM #
Pam H
A big hit this weekend! Made with ramekins since we do have those and the recipe worked great.
10.22.2012 at11:06 AM #
Katie Morford
Awesome. So glad to hear it.
12.09.2012 at8:24 PM #
Melissa
Just wondering….do you need to put water in the pan before the jars go onto it? Other recipes I’ve read for baking with mason jars require this step.
Can’t wait to try 🙂
12.09.2012 at8:24 PM #
Katie Morford
No…with this recipe you don’t need to do a water bath. Hope you like it!!
11.22.2013 at7:47 AM #
Vanessa
Thank you for this great recipe – one question – if you use the 8in pan, is it still 20 minutes?
Thank you.
11.22.2013 at7:47 AM #
Katie Morford
Hi Vanessa,
My recollection is that the cooking time is comparable. Just look for that signature puffiness and golden exterior.
09.19.2016 at6:38 AM #
Christina
I feel like I should be one of your recipe testers – I make at least 3 of your recipes each week. I made this yesterday for a lunch/dinner snack. It was really good! I added more apple, which I think was too much, and I think I cooked it for too long. It didn’t seem to puff up as much as your picture.
I made the baked apple from your breakfast cookbook last week. I think I also cooked that too long – the apple was really mushy so it was more like applesauce in an apple peel.
I’ve made the apple/molassas donuts (and muffins – I only have a 6 donut pan) several times already. And the polenta/lemon/blueberry muffins are a huge hit. We also had the tartine with cottage cheese – I had never in my life tried cottage cheese (I thought it looked ickey), but it wasn’t bad. My kids tried it too and ate it all! I have told them we have to try everything (and I do force them to eat some things they don’t want to). The chocolate/peanut butter breakfast shake was good, but they didn’t care for drinking peanut butter.
Anyhow, I’m really enjoying working my way through your new book and trying new things! Each of my kids have earmarked recipes for me to make, which is really fun!
09.19.2016 at6:38 AM #
Katie Morford
Wow! I’m impressed and I so appreciate the feedback. As for the baked apple, the cooking time and texture can vary depending on the type and size of apple. p.s. you’ve got lucky kids.
02.16.2021 at10:58 AM #
judy edwards
Can you use plain flour, such as White Lilly, or does it need to be self rising?
02.16.2021 at10:58 AM #
Katie Morford
The recipe calls for whole-wheat pastry flour, but you can use all-purpose flour.
05.15.2021 at7:11 AM #
Marci
Perhaps this has already been answered…wondering what size cake pan you would recommend and the shape of the pan too please (round, square)? Can’t wait to try this recipe!
05.15.2021 at7:11 AM #
Katie Morford
I’ve done it in a standard 8 or 9 inch cake pan.
03.12.2022 at12:09 PM #
Susan V.
I made this for breakfast this morning – so quick, easy, and delicious! It was the perfect start to the day, as we are having a late season “weather event” with snow, wind, etc., so it was a nice treat to enjoy on a day when everyone wants to cozy up inside.
03.12.2022 at12:09 PM #
Katie Morford
Perfect for a cozy morning. Glad you liked it.
08.29.2022 at8:54 AM #
Jean
When tapping on reply for comments sent in it doesn’t work. I kept pressing reply on many of them and they didn’t work also. I wanted to know if you could use all purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour for the recipe for apple pancake (in cake tin) instead of in mason jar. ???
08.29.2022 at8:54 AM #
Katie Morford
Hi Jean,
I’m sorry it was tricky to add comments. I’ll look into that. And yes, you can swap all-purpose for whole-wheat!